<p>A private college in Arizona is charging students a fee to fund a scholarship for illegal immigrants, a controversial move supporters say gives a hand to those who need it but anti-illegal immigration advocates call irresponsible.</p>
<p>Prescott College is tacking a $30 annual fee onto its $28,000 annual tuition to establish an annual scholarship for “undocumented” students, as part of a policy first proposed by students and faculty from the undergraduate and Social Justice and Human Rights Master of Arts divisions. While students can opt out of paying the fee, if they do nothing it will be automatically imposed. Backers say it helps reverse what they call Arizona’s reputation as a “national example of discriminatory politics.”</p>

The liberty movement must help elect Senator Ted Cruz the next President of the United States. Many of us in the liberty movement saw the handwriting on the wall some time ago, as far as the Rand Paul campaign was concerned. He came in a distant fifth in Iowa, a state many thought he would win a year ago. His polling looked bleak in the other early states, and he was short on resources. He likely could have gone on, but instead, suspended his campaign Wednesday morning. He'll focus on securing re-election to the Senate, which he should easily accomplish....

Plastic bags will soon be free again in Dallas. In a vote of 10 to 4, Dallas City Council members voted to repeal the bag fee passed in 2014. Grocery Bag Makers File Lawsuit Over Dallas Fee Last year's resolution added a $.05 fee for each single-use plastic bag used by shoppers to encourage people to use reusable bags and to reduce litter. The ban went into effect Jan. 1. "We're gonna take this nick on the chin," said Dallas City Councilman Dwaine Caraway, who originally pushed for the ban, after Wednesday's vote. "Y'all celebrate. Just celebrate. But when it's...

Under the false pretense of calling for new and tougher so-called fiduciary standards for financial brokers, advisers and retirement plan representatives, the White House once again horned in on Wall Street’s compensation formulas. However, what the president surely knows is that a vast majority of retirement plans — IRAs and 401(k)s — are in simple fee-based products like mutual funds. The commission-based accounts are for those who prefer to direct their brokers in certain purchases inside some of their retirement products. The key to the White House’s interference is in its nuanced language. Currently, a broker may make a recommendation...

The federal judge who oversaw Detroit's historic bankruptcy case ruled on Thursday that the nearly $178 million charged to the city by law firms and consultants for fees and expenses was reasonable. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Steven Rhodes said he based his decision mainly on the complexity of the bankruptcy case filed in July 2013 as well as substantial reductions that the firms agreed to make in their bills. "The city is now on a path to success precisely because of the expertise, skill, commitment, endurance, personal sacrifice, civility and proficiency of all of the professionals in the case, including...

Public education has been a slowly degenerating disaster throughout the West, and now it seems we’re exporting it to the rest. At a United Nations meeting 15 years ago, the world’s governments agreed on the goal of enrolling every child on the planet in primary schooling by this year. Indeed, they have nearly succeeded, with 2014’s reports indicating that 90 percent of children in developing regions now attend primary school. Presumably, the numbers for developed countries are above 95 percent. But strangely, this lofty plan did not say anything about the quality of the schooling into which we have now...

Taxes are bad enough when you know they’re coming—and much worse when they arrive unexpectedly. As the Affordable Care Act enters its second year of operability, a key and controversial element of the plan will begin to affect several million Americans for the first time. People who didn’t have health insurance during 2014 may soon have to pay a penalty fee that starts at $95 and goes up based on how much you earn. Some Americans know about the penalty, and they’ve budgeted for it or at least accepted its inevitability. But several million others could be in for a...

Facebook (FB) claims to have more than 800 million monthly users. The postulate seems to be that imposing a subscription fee would spell destruction for Facebook, driving away an enormous number of users. I agree. Getting that degree of "critical mass" is catching lighting in a bottle. If Facebook should blow it now, they will never get it back. Look at Classmates.com. For all intents and purposes... (continued)

Connecticut --(Ammoland.com)- Since October 1, 2009 the Department of Public Safety (now DESPP) has been collecting an unlawful tax on the right to bear arms in Connecticut. The DESPP has utilized the local issuing authorities in towns across Connecticut as agents of the state to collect a $50 state background check fee. Local police departments are authorized by law to request and receive state background checks at no cost and do so on a regular basis. Prior to October 1, 2009 this fee exemption was exercised in the investigation into the background of permit applicants. DESPP changed the permit process...

"Unintended Consequence Fee" intended to chide Transportation Department Spirit Airlines is angry over a new Department of Transportation rule—and it's making sure customers know it, by slapping a $2 "Department of Transportation Unintended Consequence Fee" on all tickets. The new rule, which went into effect last week, requires airlines to give customers a full refund, without additional fees, if the customer requests one within 24 hours of booking a flight, USA Today explains. That may sound innocent, but Spirit insists that it's "costing customers millions," arguing that it will lead to unfilled seats on flights, forcing the airline to spread...

Hawaii -–(Ammoland.com)-Fellow gun owners, Councilman Berg is at it again, and needs our help. In response to the $15 per hour fee now being charged at Koko Head Shooting Complex, he has introduced two new bills, Bills 1 and 60. These two bills will be heard by the council on the 25th of January, so as in competitive shooting, speed is of the essence! Both bills pertain to the charging of fees at Koko Head Shooting Complex, a topic which is near and dear to all our hearts. Bill 1 would change the wording of the fees to exclude non-profit...

Verizon Wireless to charge $2 for one-time payments by credit card, online or by phone. NEW YORK (AP) -- Verizon Wireless, the country's largest cellphone company, said Thursday that it will start charging $2 for every payment subscribers make over the phone or online with their credit cards. The company said this "convenience fee" will be introduced Jan. 15.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Starting in 2012, the government will charge a new fee to your health insurance plan for research to find out which drugs, medical procedures, tests and treatments work best. But what will Americans do with the answers? The goal of the research, part of a little-known provision of President Barack Obama’s health care law, is to answer such basic questions as whether that new prescription drug advertised on TV really works better than an old generic costing much less. But in the politically charged environment surrounding health care, the idea of medical effectiveness research is eyed with...

An appellate court has ruled that the state must pay the attorney's fees of a Longview man acquitted last year of four counts of assault after he pointed a gun at bouncers and staff outside a downtown Longview nightclub. "I'm free to waltz into court and say, ‘God damn it, give me my money,' " Longview attorney Duane Crandall, who represented defendant Brian Barnd-Spjut in the matter, said this week. A Cowlitz County jury ruled last year that Barnd-Spjut was acting in self defense when he pointed his gun at staff outside the now-defunct Kesler's Bar and Grill. The bouncers...

California State University trustees are proposing a 9 percent hike in undergraduate tuition beginning with the fall 2012 semester, unless the state gives the system more money. It would be the ninth basic fee increase in nine years for the nation's largest university system, which says higher tuition is the only way to keep up with rising enrollment and declining state support. "Our options are severely limited," CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed said in a Monday morning news conference. "The state needs to step up and assume its historic role as the primary funder of the university." The $498 increase...

With the uproar over Bank of America introducing $5 monthly fees for the privilege of using their debit cards, there is an angle to this that everyone is missing - the law of unintended consequences. Wizbang's Jay Tea blogged about this very point over the weekend, and I want to take his point a bit further. The law of unintended consequences is going to be one of the chapters in my ongoing (which will end up being nine or ten parts) Economics for Politicians series, but this particular incident warranted its own post. First let's step back a minute...

As I detailed here in February in "Dick Durbin Is Stealing Your Free Checking," thanks to price controls on debit card transactions from the Durbin Amendment of the 2010 Dodd-Frank "financial reform" law, free checking is going the way of the dodo bird. The Durbin price controls on interchange fees -- the so-called "swipe fees" that retailers pay to bank and credit unions that process debit card transactions, go into effect this Saturday, October 1, and are already showing more dire effects than originally predicted. Not only is free checking disappearing at a rapid pace -- a new Bankrate.com survey...

WASHINGTON — It's not just millionaires who'd pay more under President Barack Obama's latest plan to combat the deficit. Air travelers, federal workers, military retirees, wealthier Medicare beneficiaries and people taking out new mortgages are among those who would pay more than $130 billion in new government revenues raised through new or increased fees. These fees are advertised as "savings" in administration budget documents.

(Reuters) - Bank of New York Mellon Corp told some of its biggest depositors this week it does not want their money. BNY Mellon said it is charging a fee to big corporate and asset management clients that deposit more money than average, because it has been overwhelmed by deposits. Global economic turmoil -- including the Greek debt crisis and the U.S. debt ceiling debate -- has driven BNY Mellon's large clients to sell riskier assets and move the proceeds to deposit accounts. The flood of cash is likely to raise BNY Mellon's U.S. deposit insurance fees and could weaken...

Board Member Resigns Amid School Bus Fee FlapAaron Sullivan: ‘I Will Pray For You’ UPDATED: 11:20 am EDT July 28, 2011 INDIANAPOLIS -- A Franklin Township school board member has resigned amid controversy over school bus fees. Aaron Sullivan, the only school board member to attend a town hall meeting on the topic Tuesday night, stepped down in an email to fellow board members and Superintendent Walter Bourke, 6News' Kara Kenney reported. **SNIP** Hundreds of people came to the meeting, many of whom directed their anger toward Sullivan over a $475-per-child bus fee charged by a third party, the nonprofit...

Neil Cavuto today..looks like user fees are in..billions of dollars..what ever fees there are... raise as many as possible..Air Lines...Food Inspection ect.. Can they fool us with user fees???? Time to e-mail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9155J1V8XaM&feature=fvstTalk about ironic - Philadelphia to ban free speech - unless you got cash! Another attempt to take out the middle class by making it too expensive to participate. In Philadelphia if you don't have the cash you also get denied your first amendment rights. Hmmmmm Make this viral folks because the bull always starts small and keeps gaining momentum UNTIL it is stopped

Banks, in an attempt to wring more revenue out of customer accounts, are conjuring up new ways to raise fees on basic products like debit cards, cash machines and checking accounts. As regulation curtailing the financial institutions from levying certain charges on consumers has mounted over the past year, banks have had to dream up new fees to replace those now trimmed by laws. Banks are considering additional fees on credit cards and checking accounts. But they also are looking at new ways to make money on cash machines and especially debit cards as regulators pinch the cards' conventional revenue...

It may seem like airlines have thought of every possible way to squeeze more money out of air travelers, charging extra for everything from early boarding to checking bags. But hold on to your wallet: There's probably room for more fees. Might you eventually pay for holding your baby on your lap during a flight? Or talking to an airline employee during check in? The trend of a la carte pricing -- charging rock bottom prices for base fares, then adding fees for anything extra -- helped domestic airlines deliver the biggest profits in a decade last year. The industry...

Last year, Huntington Indiana's Mayor Steve Updike started laying off workers and this year changed trash pick up to bi weekly because of a budget shortfall. He then went on to propose a service fee for the citizens of Huntington. He has since brought some emergency workers back and started weekly trash pick up. That leaves the service fee.....

Huntington Indiana's trash has been piling up and causing odor and animal problems since Mayor Steve Updike changed the pick-up schedule to the second and last weeks of the month. But after consideration, has changed the schedule back to three days a week. The original change was because of massive deficit problems by the city. Over the last year, Huntington officials found the city in a huge monetary hole because of property tax appeals. The mayor cut personnel and services, attempting to alleviate the problem. He had made cuts to the total of over 600,000 dollars to try and cover...

Obama Administration Backs Making Radio Pay Fees Friday, 02 Apr 2010 07:02 AM The Obama administration is supporting legislation to make radio stations pay royalties to performers when they play their music. The Commerce Department's general counsel said in a letter Thursday that providing compensation to performers "is a matter of fundamental fairness." Satellite radio, Internet radio and cable TV music channels already pay fees to performers and songwriters. However, AM and FM radio stations pay royalties only to the songwriters — not the performers. Cameron Kerry, general counsel of the Commerce Department, said the measure would level the playing...

The cost of the BBC licence fee will increase by 2 per cent to £145.50 from April 1, it was confirmed today. The rise from £142.50 for the colour licence is part of a six-year BBC funding settlement agreed in 2007.

The White House's new health-care proposal promises the "largest middle class tax cut for health care in history," which is a creative way of describing a vast taxpayer-subsidized insurance entitlement. Naturally, the fine print goes on to describe one of the largest tax increases for health care in history, too. This new ObamaCare bargain would for the first time apply the 2.9% Medicare payroll tax to "interest, dividends, annuities, royalties and rents," so-called passive income that we are told includes capital gains, though the latter wasn't explicitly mentioned in the proposal. This antigrowth investment tax would apply to singles earning...

Saying transit agencies need financial help, legislative Democrats announced a budget plan Friday that digs up extra cash for bus and rail in California while boosting the state general fund. The proposal, to be heard at the Senate budget committee Tuesday, would allow local governments to establish a fee at the gas pump – possibly a fraction of a penny or a few pennies per gallon. Metropolitan areas could spend that money on transit to help comply with state greenhouse gas reduction requirements. Democrats said they have not decided whether local governments could impose the fee on their own, or...

America's banks Turning the tables America's banks will find out what it feels like to cover someone else's losses “I DID not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat-cat bankers,” Barack Obama recently declared. On Thursday January 14th he drove the point home, unveiling a special levy on large financial institutions to cover losses by taxpayers on the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP). The “Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee” will snare around 50 banks and insurers with assets of more than $50 billion—35 American institutions and 15 or so domestic subsidiaries of foreign firms. Each will pay...

The Obama administration is considering levying a fee on banks, which would recoup taxpayer funds spent to rescue the financial sector and auto companies, according to administration officials. The proposal is still under discussion and no final decision has been made as to what form it might take. The concept is expected to be included in next month's budget, even without specific details, and as such could also be presented as a way to reduce the U.S.'s large deficit. One option discussed involves placing a fee on a bank's liabilities, a number that theoretically represents the amount of risk a...

(09-17) 20:36 PDT -- Calling soda the new tobacco, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will introduce legislation this fall that would charge a fee to retailers that sell sugary beverages. Newsom would need voter approval to tax individual cans of soda and sugary juice, but only needs approval from the Board of Supervisors to levy a fee on retailers.

Open Space Authority to Return Assessment Funds San Jose, CA, May 29, 2009 – Property owners who have property within the jurisdiction of the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority will soon be able to claim refunds of an assessment charged by the Authority on their real estate tax bills between 2002 and 2008. In 2001, the Authority approved a $20 annual assessment on single-family homes located within the Authority’s territory to help purchase and maintain open space and parkland. Higher amounts were charged for multi-family and commercial properties. The Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, and...

Berkeley property owners may soon be asked to approve a 20 percent increase in city refuse fees in a somewhat controversial “majority protest” mail-in voting procedure. The unusual ballot process automatically counts votes not received as “yes” votes. The Berkeley City Council is scheduled to consider sending the rate increase proposal to property owners at the council’s next regular meeting, Tuesday, April 21, following a March 23 Zero Waste Commission decision recommending the increase. If approved by property owners, residential refuse collection rates for the average 32-gallon can would rise $4.52 per month, from $22.58 to $27.10. Commer-cial rates would...

S&P faces EU legal action over fees and angers Spain on rating Business information group Standard & Poor's reacted strongly yesterday after the European Commission launched a legal action against the company, alleging breaches of EU regulations. By Roland Gribben Last Updated: 9:50PM GMT 12 Jan 2009 The Commission stepped in after complaints from asset managers and financial institutions, principally in Germany and France, that S&P may have abused its monopoly position by forcing them to pay licence fees for using numbers identifying US stocks. S&P dismissed the action, saying: "The complaint that prompted this inquiry is without merit." The...

Madoff meets Lehman Posted by: Matthew Goldstein on December 19 It’s not a lot of money compared to the estimated $3 billion that a fund managed by The Tremont Group has lost in the Bernard Madoff scandal. But the same Tremont fund also claims it lost $25 million when Lehman Brothers went bust in September. In October, Tremont’s Rye Select Broad Market fund filed a lawsuit alleging that it was owed some $25 million on a derivatives contract that permitted it to borrow money from a Lehman subsidiary. The derivative contract enabled the Rye fund to leverage its investment in...

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A proposed strategy for reducing ocean litter calls for a statewide ban on foam food containers, fees for using plastic and paper bags, and making producers responsible for the collection and disposal of packaging. The California Ocean Protection Council announced its plans (PDF [319KB]) earlier this month and voted on actions for preventing and reducing waste that could end up in the ocean. The state council also aims to change producer and consumer behavior with its three recommendations for reducing packaging waste: adopting extended producer responsibility, prohibiting certain items and charging fees for items that commonly become...

Editorial: Assessment ruling won't serve state well Monday's state Supreme Court decision striking down an assessment by the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority was one more nail in the coffin of California's quality of life. Not that the court was unreasonable. The justices were interpreting Proposition 218, as convoluted and mean-spirited an anti-tax law as California voters ever passed. The 1996 initiative aimed to tighten the rules set by Proposition 13 to make it even harder for government to raise revenue, and it's succeeding all too well. Californians must come to grips with the kind of place they want...

IT was the nation’s lending institutions and mortgage originators that got us into this credit mess, but it is consumers, taxpayers and those companies’ shareholders who will end up shouldering most of the costs. The latest example of this is in the mass freezing of home equity lines of credit going on across the country. Reeling from losses on their wretched loan decisions of recent years, lenders are preventing borrowers with pristine credit and significant equity in their homes from tapping into credit lines that they paid dearly to secure. In the last 30 days, lenders have sent several hundred...

AUSTIN — A Travis County judge ruled Friday that the state's new $5-per-patron strip club fee is an unconstitutional tax, but the state promised to appeal... The Legislature enacted the adult entertainment fee, effective Jan. 1, and dedicated the first $25 million to sexual assault prevention and additional revenue to low-income health care. The fee was expected to raise more than $50 million for health care in its first two years. It was the dedication of money to health care that caused the tax to be unconstitutional, Jenkins said. He heard testimony from club owners, state employees and sexual assault...

Bankers watch for falling knives as sponsors feel pain James Mawson 25 Mar 2008 Investment banks that have found private equity a lucrative business over the past few years are about to receive a double blow: falling fees from financial sponsors this year as well as writedowns of private equity assets held on their books. The problem is most visible at the largest banks that targeted the biggest private equity firms as clients. Banks specialising in the mid-market are more confident of their ability to withstand the growing capital markets storm. A Financial News survey of 20 of the largest...

WHEREAS, Preston County provides the citizens of Morgantown, Monongalia County with the crystal clear waters of Decker’s Creek and the Cheat River--and cool mountain breezes for their free use; and, WHEREAS, Preston County’s majestic mountains provide the citizens of Morgantown, Monongalia County with shade from the rising sun--greatly reducing their air conditioning bills in the summer! And, those same mountains selflessly absorb dangerous and cancer causing Global Warming UV rays; and, WHEREAS, Preston County provides the citizens of Morgantown, Monongalia County with access to I-68 and the shortcut through the Cumberland mountains to all points east; and, WHEREAS, Preston County...

LONG BEACH - Days after port authorities approved a $35 environmental fee on containers shipped through Southern California's harbors, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday that he would support a similar fee at the state level. Schwarzenegger, who previously said container fees would hurt the economy, now considers them an option to help fund trade-related infrastructure and environmental programs. "I think fees are good; we just have to work it out with the various stakeholders," Schwarzenegger said during a visit with U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. "It's extremely important that we find a way to create economic development and increase...

After banning plastic bags from chain grocery stores and bottled water from City Hall, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has set his sights on soda - working up a plan to charge a new city fee to big retailers of sugar drinks. "The bottom line is that there is a direct nexus between high-fructose corn syrup drinks like colas and Big Gulps and obesity among schoolkids," Newsom said Friday. The idea of taxing soda to combat obesity - which is being touted as the first in the nation - has been roiling around in health circles for some time, including...

Constitutional rights are eternal. But the City of Mesa believes that if you don't enforce them promptly, your right to do so expires. That would have been bad news for Oliver Brown, given that the Topeka, Kansas separate-but-equal laws had been on the books for decades before he challenged them. Mesa's argument takes place in the context of the Goldwater Institute's legal challenge, on behalf of the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, to a development impact fee for cultural facilities. Mesa retained the fee when it increased its impact fees by about 60 percent earlier this year. We argue...

The future of an interstate planned to run through Victoria appears murkier than ever. Harris County, a key point along the proposed Interstate 69 route, pulled out of the I-69 Alliance in mid-May. In an article in the May 15 Houston Chronicle, Bill Murphy and Rad Sallee wrote that Harris County pulled out of the I-69 Alliance after county commissioners decided too much was spent annually in membership costs. The county hopes that a bill in legislation right now is passed, because it would give them access to build a toll road as part of the Trans-Texas Corridor parallel to...